Issue #842 Aug. 12 , 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- When a Celebrity Dies…
- Use Before-and-After Photos
- Publicity Ideas for Authors
- Hound Video of the Week
This Week in the Hound House:
What’s your favorite Robin Williams movie? Mine is “Good Morning, Vietnam.” Watch a clip of Adrian Cronauer’s first broadcast. Of all the news clips I saw last night, the funniest showed his first appearance on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” If you missed it, watch it on YouTube.
1. When a Celebrity Dies…
The obvious angle for Publicity Hounds who want to contribute their expertise when a celebrity dies is to offer background or commentary on one aspect of the celebrity’s life.
Health professionals and other experts might use the death of Robin Williams, for example, to help people better understand depression, alcoholism, drug addiction or the importance of asking for help.
But one of the best pieces I’ve read in the last 24 hours is “Remembering Robin Williams: His 10 Most Inspirational Quotes” by Geoff Weiss, a staff writer for Entrepreneur.com. You might be familiar with some of the quotes from Williams’ hit movies, but I’ll bet you haven’t seen many of the quotes from the star himself.
Simple. Touching.
Inspirational quotes offer a deeper understanding of a person’s character than commentary from an observer.
When a celebrity within your own company or industry dies, consider creating a list of the most memorable quotes or one-liners.
2. Use Before-and-After Photos
Nothing illustrates the success of a do-good program better than before-and-after photos.
The “Top Shelter Dog In America” contest, which provides makeovers for neglected animals that need homes, gave away grooming supplies to shelters. Entrants submitted hundreds of before-and-after photos.
A Top 25 series of photos illustrates that with care, attention and the right tools, you can turn the mangiest mutt into a clean, clipped, classy canine. By the time I was done clicking through the heartwarming series of photos, I almost started crying.
The sponsors, Wahl and GreaterGood.org, stressed that groomed dogs photographed in good lighting drastically increase adoption rates. No more depressing photos of sad-looking dogs in cages.
Here are six other ideas for using before-and-after photos in a publicity campaign:
–Web designers, show what a client’s awful website looked like before you performed your magic, with the client’s permission.
–Stories dealing with fashion, hair styling or weight loss are naturals for these photos.
–Consultants who help plan and stage events like trade shows can show what a client’s booth like before and what it looks like now.
–A book cover designer can show what an awful covered looked like before the desperate author whose books weren’t selling finally asked for help.
–Architects, show what a building looked like before the owners hired you to create the perfect blueprint.
–Car repair shops, this is perfect for you!
Make before-and-after photos part of your brainstorming session when you plan your next publicity campaign for a product, service, cause, issue, event or fund-raiser. And keep my ebook “How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound” close at hand. It includes cheat sheets, checklists and questions you can ask that will help generate story ideas and get you the publicity you need. If you want one how-guide that gives you the best advice on every aspect of your publicity campaign.
3. Publicity Ideas for Authors
When it’s time to launch a book, most authors feel exhausted.
That’s when their publicity campaign needs to kick into high gear. But when you’re tired, you can’t think of story ideas. Here are three that every author should tuck away:
–Keep your fans informed about the process of writing the book. Tweet updates. Post them on Facebook. This helps build anticipation for the book.
–Find out if newspapers, magazines or website are planning a Holiday Gift Guide that ties into the topic of your book. I just googled “holiday gift guide ceos” and found many gift gifts that might welcome a photo and press release about a book that would be perfect for top executives.
–Don’t forget about your alumni magazine. Let them know about your new book, awards won, major speaking gigs, etc.
I have dozens more ideas for fiction and non-fiction authors and I’ll share them during a free webinar from 6 to 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. Register for “How to Generate Story Ideas for Your Book Publicity Campaign.”
Come with questions.
4. Hound Video of the Week
Here’s another dog shaming video, this time featuring three poodles. Can you tell which one made the mess?
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